In defense of unlockables in games

How giving players less can really mean giving them more and how flexible developer decisions can benefit everyone.

This essay is in response to Stephen Totilo's article "The 480th Argument Against Locking Content in Video Games." It looks at why locking content from players is actually important and encourages developers to experiment with it.

I enjoy it, especially in fighting games. I hate games that just give you everything right off the bat. It's really fun when you have a bunch of stages, characters, etc. to unlock. It makes you want to play it that much more to earn them.